The Highwayman
by mythica magic
Summary: Stealing has its benefits. For instance, it gives Ruki an excuse to visit the clergyman's daughter to play pretend at asking for forgiveness. Yui should have known the sound of hooves was a prelude to death. Adaptation of Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman". Rukiyui commission.


_Writing commission for s-e-kwan who asked for a DL adaptation of Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman"._

_Features character death but isn't terribly graphic. _

* * *

**The Highwayman**

The sound of hooves was a prelude to violence.

Nobility cowered in their carriages in the wake of the sudden surge in theft activity that had swept through the area like a vengeful tide. Highwaymen were not uncommon, but one in particular was the subject on everyone's wine laced tongues. He rode like the devil. His bearing was noble, dare they say aristocratic. Yet he was no gentleman, the horrors he committed were more than enough proof.

Men clutched at their stamped papers while women gripped the fine decorations around their throats, wrists and fingers.

A black steed stopped by their door, a pistol levelled at their pale temples, slick with sweat. Devastatingly cruel yet beautiful dark blue eyes stared at them behind the gun. His face handsome but obscured by the black material pulled up over his mouth and nose, acting as a mask, blood as blue as theirs. Yet his fortune had been swindled due to his father's stupid, clumsy hands. The same ones that had securely tied a noose around his neck once their riches had vanished right along with _Mother._

* * *

The sound of hooves was a prelude to love.

The kind clergyman's daughter trembled in her room, hurrying to the window and sliding it open. Yui leaned out, watching the dark figure approach from the ground, lured by her light. Cloaked in mists, Ruki Mukami tugged the reins of his beast to halt, meeting her rose-pink gaze, more valuable than any jewel he could tear from wealthy chests.

"You're still awake."

"I wanted to see you," she said honestly, causing him to chuckle.

"I should reward such commitment. What would you like in return? I'll be generous tonight."

Anyone else in their filthy, greedy country would ask for the loot he'd taken, but she knew his cause. The reason why he stole. That, or she was too pure to ask for such things. It was that quality that had first caused him to hate her.

"Y-you'll tease, it's silly," she blushed, fiddling with her hair. It had gotten much longer, he noted.

"I'll do so anyway. You expose yourself too easily," Ruki's gaze slid down her pale collarbone, whispering goose bumps onto her flesh.

She sighed, cutting her eyes to the sky and blushing. "A kiss."

Thin lips curved up. "Such a simple thing, yet I can't give it to you, my Lady."

Yui looked embarrassed and apologetic, thinking he did not want to-

He gave a huff of amusement. "I can't reach," black gloves gestured to the distance between them.

"O-oh…" she tucked stray blonde locks behind her ear, long hair spilling out of the window and falling to him below. She'd been meaning to cut it-

Ruki reached out and curled his fingers around it, pressing his lips to the silky strands. Yui flushed, not daring to look away as he held her gaze. Perhaps it could stay long.

"…Have you any confessions for me today, Highwayman?" She asked gently.

"I stole from a duke and duchess. No violence though," he said, lashes lowering. This charade of forgiveness was how they'd come to be acquainted. He'd come seeking her father after a particular robbery had gone wrong, resulting in death. He didn't want help, exactly. Rather to say his crime and be condemned. To confirm in his heart his sin.

Instead, Yui had opened her windows and heart to him, staring into the darkest parts of his soul and considering him without fear.

It was that quality that had first caused him to love her.

Yui always forgave, if only because some part of him seemed to mourn his nature even as no part of him hinted at the possibility of redemption.

"I should hope so after last time. I didn't like lying to Father about where our bandages went."

Ruki hummed, remembering. He'd been injured. She'd shed tears. Foolish little girl that she was. She gazed down at him with concern. "I can…replace the bandages. But I can't replace you. Please be careful, Ruki."

"You're certainly soft tonight," narrow eyes glittered. "Don't waste your concerns on me. Keep to your studies within your tower, Rapunzel," he uttered, tugging on a lock of her hair. Turning his horse and cantering away from the lonely house, Ruki left behind his most treasured possession. Though he wanted to take her, there was a certain tightrope they tread together that remained unspoken.

The moment he could touch her freely, Ruki knew he'd dirty her. And tarnishing those rose-pink eyes was something even his black heart bled for.

Yui watched him disappear into the black wraiths of shadow, feeling her own heart sway as though to follow.

Only a man outside the law would encourage a woman's education.

* * *

The sound of hooves was a prelude to hate.

Perhaps hate was too strong a word, Laito mused, watching the Highwayman leave. Frustration then.

He'd wormed his way into the clergyman's good graces in order to more easily take advantage of the weak. People so easily lowered their guards for him if he wore their holy clothes or spoke the right words.

Yet his silver tongue failed him around Yui. Though she lit fire into his heart and loins, Yui evaded his touch. She'd begged her father to be rid of him, but Seiji wouldn't hear of it. Laito Sakamaki was a good man.

As such, the law all too easily believed him when he sent word the next day of the infamous Highwayman's favourite haunt.

* * *

The sound of hooves was a prelude to dread.

Yui gasped and struggled, head blazing with pain as a wetness crept down her temple and into her eye. Blinking the blood away, she struggled against the binds that held her fast.

The King's men had roughly snatched her from town and tied her up within her room, binding a musket to her front that dug under her chest.

_'Keep watch' _they'd laughed, walking downstairs with their weapons to await the Mukami's horse. Yui shifted, heart hammering as she heard him approach. The only thing she could move was her index. Something metal met the pad of her finger, and Yui covered the trigger, trembling.

She had to warn him. She couldn't bare it if he was gunned down. They still had so much to talk about. He was the only one who would listen to her prattle on about the latest book she'd read or the peonies blooming in the garden. They'd never touched but in the corner of her mouth, a secret kiss awaited his lips. Only his.

Rose-pink eyes slid shut.

A gunshot going off caused his horse to rear in surprise. Ruki gripped the reins, clicking his tongue and striking it's hide to turn back, galloping away when he sensed an ambush in the works.

But why at the clergyman's home?

Ruki felt a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach. They'd probably found out about his…acquaintance with the daughter and taken Yui hostage.

"I'll come back for you," he mutters, swearing it.

He'd gather resources, find men to storm the place, calculate outcomes. That's right, all he needed was a plan. His mind never failed him.

* * *

The sound of hooves was a prelude to madness.

It had been a simple thing. Just a passing conversation he'd heard while at the market in the next town. He'd already bought off men to help him.

_'Did you hear, that kind clergyman Seiji Komori? His daughter shot herself.'_

_'Oh no! She'd been so beautiful.'_

_'I know. Fragile though.'_

Ruki did not think much then.

He did not calculate risks or outcomes. If he had, he'd know that riding back to the very town he'd escaped from was a fool's errand. But vengeance had always been a loyal lover that warmed his bed more than any woman. He kept it close, embracing and bleeding revenge as he galloped over the bridge, firing blindly.

The King's men tore him down with a rain of gunfire.

He found solace in the pain, as it stopped his mind from screaming its regret.

* * *

In the winter when the wind is in the trees, there comes the sound of hooves…

Yui opened her window and smiled down at him from within the abandoned house. Ruki raised his hand and beckoned her down, just as she'd wanted him to for so long.

"Come, or I really will climb up your hair, Rapunzel."

Yui giggled lightly and floated down, sliding weightless into his arms. Her clothes did not become dirty with his touch. She did not wilt or crumple when his lips claimed hers- but shined with a luminous brilliance that even the living could slightly see in their quiet streets if they cared to look.

Riding from the town atop his dark steed, the two vanished into the waiting world of possible preludes.

_End_


End file.
